Egyptian Christians in
NJ May Have Been Murdered for FaithBarnabas
Fund News Service

An Egyptian Christian
father, HossamArmanious,
his wife and two daughters were found knifed to death in their home on Jan. 14.
Police are investigating several theories, but religious tensions have been
suggested as a potential motive. Armanious had been
threatened during an Internet chat-room session, following his critical
comments on Islam.

HossamArmanious
(47), his wife AmalGaras
(36), and their daughters Sylvia (15) and Monica (8) were found in their house
in Jersey City, bound and gagged with their throats slit and knife wounds to
their heads and bodies. While police are suggesting a robbery as the possible
motive, the style of killing has made friends and relatives see a link with
Islamic teaching on killing unbelievers.

Armanious and his family moved from Luxor, Upper Egypt to the United States in the late 1990s to escape the
growing anti-Christian violence in Upper Egypt.
Such violence has seen many Christians killed and much Christian property
destroyed in recent years.

After settling in New Jersey, the family
began making a new life for themselves. However, as a devout Christian, Armanious was outspoken about his faith, and continued to
publicize the persecution of Christians in Egypt that had caused them to flee.
He was known to have frequent vigorous debates on religion, including
criticizing Islam, in Internet chat rooms.

Two months ago, he
received the threat that if he didn't stop these comments 'we are going to
track you down like a chicken and kill you'. A parishioner of St George and St Shenouda, the Coptic Orthodox church they attended, said,
'They are trying to make us afraid, make us keep our mouth shut.' Armanious' refusal to keep quiet about Christian
persecution under Islam may finally have caused the fatal stabbings.

Relatives of the family
grew worried when they had not heard from them for several days. The extended
family had been planning to gather together on Jan. 15 to celebrate Sylvia's
16th birthday. Early on the morning of Jan. 14 police broke into the family
home and found all four in separate rooms. Autopsies have concluded that they
bled to death from their multiple wounds.

Sylvia, who had been
known amongst her friends as 'very religious and very opinionated', seemed to
family members to have taken more savage wounds than the others. She had a
large gash across her chest and also stab wounds on
her wrist. Though the slash on her wrist was near her tattoo of the Coptic cross,
which all the family had, police have stated that it looks more like a
defensive wound than an attempt to cut the tattoo.

Police officials and
Coptic church leaders are attempting to downplay the
religious link, asking people not to jump to conclusions. A break-in just a few
months earlier had caused Armanious to increase
security at the home, and as there were no signs of a forced entry police
believe the family may have known their attacker. They have also reported that
there was no jewelry or money in the house, with Armanious's
wallet emptied and pockets turned out, leading them to the possibility of
robbery as a motive.

However, family members
who were permitted to enter the house to collect important papers have said
that all the jewelry was there. These conflicting reports have added fuel to
the relatives' outrage and some in the local Egyptian Christian community are
calling for revenge. A deacon at their church has said that he is worried there
may be a ripple effect following the murders, with both anger and fear growing.
At the funeral several people carried placards saying 'Islam is not a
religion.' The procession later descended into chaos as mourners started
jumping on cars and threatening violence to a Muslim cleric who had attended.